I’ve been noticing a lot of DIY decorating ideas circulating around Pinterest and thought I’d give one a try. The project that really caught my eye was upcycling old tennis rackets into mirrors.
The problem with that was I had no desire to go and have glass cut to fit an old tennis racket. Instead, I decided to make my rackets (I found old badminton rackets at Goodwill instead) into decorative bulletin boards.
Materials
- Cork (I grabbed a package of cork tiles from Walmart)
- Tennis Rackets or in my case, Badminton rackets
- Spray Paint (optional)
- Washi Tape (optional)
- Glue/Liquid Nails
- Paper
How To:
Paint and Decorate
Okay, my badminton rackets needed some help. If yours don’t, you can skip this step. My rackets, however, had sticky handles from peeling tape. I also didn’t really like the coloring on the racket. My first step was to remove the tape off of the sticky racket and spray paint my rackets black. I like that the spray paint covered the brand name on the rackets and cleaned them up. If you have a pair of vintage tennis rackets, I wouldn’t suggest painting them. Embrace their antique charm!
After my rackets dried, I still wanted to spruce them up a bit more. To do this, I grabbed some purple and teal washi tape and wrapped each of the handles. 
Create a Stencil
Now, it was time to make the stencil so I could cut my cork to fit inside the racket. I found the best way to do this was to place the racket on top of a piece of paper and trace through the strings. Once you’ve gone around the entire racket, you should be able to connect the dots on your paper. Next, cut out your shape and you have yourself a stencil/template to work with.
Cut Out Cork
Now, use your stencil to trace the shape onto the cork board and cut. Don’t worry, your cork isn’t falling apart. It’s just a little crumbly to work with.
Glue and Assemble
Ready for the final step? Grab your glue or liquid nails and apply to the cork. I had originally planned on using E-600 glue but I may or may not have glued it shut… Anyway, I found hot glue works just as well for this project. Once I placed the cork on the racket and let the glue dry, I applied glue right over top of the racket’s strings and let it dry as well. 
Easy right? Feel free to add more embellishments and hang them up on the wall for all to enjoy! Don’t forget to supply some push pins so your family can display their favorite photos, notes, or memorabilia on these cork board rackets.
